Saturn in Synastry Chart Overlays...

Inadequacy is felt wherever Saturn is found. It is never easy, but for those who are patient and can persevere through hard times of restriction and difficultly, no planet's gifts are more valuable.

Saturn is the most maligned of the planets, and the criticism is well justified. Where Saturn falls in a chart, there is an obvious feeling of inadequacy, restriction, limitation and fear. In fact, Saturn can be so intimidating that many people go through great effort to completely avoid the activities of the house where Saturn falls in their own natal chart. In a house like the fourth, which represents family, it can create a real nightmare. It is very difficult to avoid your own family. Other houses like the ninth or eleventh, which deal with worldly issues, are easier to avoid. Dealing with Saturn rather than running away from it is truly difficult, but if you can, you will learn the lessons it teaches and the rewards are powerful.

In a synastry chart overlay, Saturn can be misleading. Because you are dealing with your mate's Saturn rather than your own, each partner senses that the other person is causing the difficulty, creating a possible rift in the relationship. Feeling the restrictive weight of your partner's Saturn in any of your houses can cause you to build negative feelings about your partner. In the first house, your mate's Saturn may make you afraid or hesitant about expressing yourself. Your partner may be critical of the way you speak or dress. Your partner's Saturn in your fifth house can make you feel like you are trying to be a party animal when you are really simply trying to enjoy yourself. Saturn's restrictive and fearful nature has a way of making us afraid of going too far with anything. In houses like the first and fifth, Saturn can make you question your own identity. In the seventh house, your mate's Saturn may take the relationship more seriously than you feel comfortable with, making the relationship feel restrictive. In the best scenario, your partner's Saturn in your seventh house will bring solidity to the relationship. Your partner's Saturn in the eighth house can make the relationship feel heavy and awkward because the commitment is treated as a responsibility. Saturn here may take the relationship on a slow, careful course to intimacy, where either one or both of you fears rushing because they take commitment very seriously. However, in the end, Saturn here can make the relationship very solid because it is taken seriously. In the fourth house, your partner's Saturn can make family and home life feel like a restrictive trap. Your partner may feel that you don't spend enough time at home, or that you are always finding reasons to leave. On the positive end, your partner's Saturn here can add formality and structure to home life. In the third and ninth house, your mate's Saturn may cause your partner to restrict your free thinking and harshly criticize any new ideas you have. It can make communication between you strained. The best manifestation of Saturn in these houses is to make both members of the relationship careful about what is said, and more appreciative of established ideas and tradition. Your partner's Saturn in your eleventh house, may cause you to feel inadequate in interactions with friends or your community. Or it may make you feel restricted here as your partner may feel you should take these interactions more seriously. The earth houses, the second, sixth and tenth, make better homes for Saturn, but they don't escape the feeling of inadequacy the planet brings. In the second, your mate's Saturn may criticize your spending habits. In the sixth, it may be your work habits or daily routines, and in the tenth, your career ambitions or status in the community. In the twelfth house, where your mate's Saturn is often vague and not discussed, it will be felt as a deep self-doubt or worry. In fact, the twelfth house may actually be the placement where Saturn can be the most difficult because nothing can be pinned down in order to work through Saturn's effects and grow past them.

For those willing to submit to Saturn's long, difficult road and stand up to the fears and awkwardness it brings, there is wisdom to be found. The core feeling of Saturn is that of inadequacy. The feelings of restriction, awkwardness, and fear stem from a lack of confidence in your abilities. These abilities can be anything from learning to communicating well with your partner in the third house, to twelfth house lessons like learning to have faith that the mysterious feelings that lurk in the relationship are not due to any wrongful behavior of your partner. The only solution is hard work over a long period of time to master the skill of the house where Saturn is found in your synastry chart overlay, or in your own natal chart. This is the only way to eliminate the negative feelings that come with Saturn. People generally reap the rewards of Saturn as they get older and have had time to learn its lessons of perseverance and hard work. If you stick with it and never give up, your confidence will be astounding. You will be authentic, wise, and solid. Your skills will stand up to any test because they were truly earned.